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LECOMPTON CONSTITUTION. 



^ 



SPEECH 



HON. JAMES HUGHES, OF INDIANA, 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEB. 2, 1858, 



On. the admission of Kansas as a State under the Lecompion ConsfiCution. 






Mr. HUGHES said: 

Mr. Ciiairbian: The speeches made here are 
addressed either to the House, or, as tlie phrase 
j::ocs, "to the country.'' I will not promise that 
1 shall say nothing' directed especially to my con- 
stituents, or to that great public whose judgment 
is justly formidable, botii to authors and speak- 
ers; but I do say that I shall spealc to the country 
through the House, for wliat is most practical 
and best adapted to illustrate the measures under 
consideration here before the Representatives of 
tlie people, is best worthy the attention of the 
people themselves. 

Representing a portion of the people of a State in 
this Union, whose government has been almost 
subverted, and whose constitution has been tram- 
pled under foot, through frauds upon the ballot- 
box, perpetrated in 1856, by this same Republican 
|iarty wiiich professes so much purity and love of 
liberty, I claim to be second to none in seal for the 
rights of the people and sacred regard for the free- 
dom of elections. But I recognize no liberty in 
this country but that which is obedient to lato, 
and I repudiate and detest both that mischievou.'j 
fanaticism which, in the name of freedom, incites 
to anarchy, and the turbulent revolutionary and 
corrupt practices which are its legitimate fruits. 
Of these, the State of Indiana has had enough 
within her own borders; and I think it likely her 
people v/ill deem it wise to sjettle that account 
before they exercise any sujiervisioii over the 
affairs of Kansas. Sir, do you knov/ that, at this 
moment, the State government of Indiana is being 
carried on without revenue or appropriation laws; 
that, for want of the necessary assessment laws, 
no taxes have been levied; that the munificent 
charities of the State were for a time defeated, and 
the helpless inmates of her institutions turned out 
upon the world;, that, at the time appointed for 
the meeting of her Legislature, an organised mob 
took possession of her Senate Chamber, at temp ted 
to depose the presiding officer, and, inspired by 
the presence, within the bar, of General James 
II. Lane, commander-in-chief of the army of free- 
dom, enacted such outrages as very shame forbid 




them even to mention on their journal? Do you 
know that they inducted into office three pre- 
tended Senators, who claimed their seats in virtue 
of frauds established since by the testimony of 
Republican v/itnesses, and unsurpassed in Kan- 
sas; and having thus obtained control of one 
branch of the State Legislature, made use of their 
usurped power for the subversion of the govern- 
ment? These things arc true, sir, as set forth in 
the resolutions of the Democratic State conven- 
tion of Indiana: 

" 9. Resolved, That vfs arraijn the Black Republican 
party of Indiana before the peopie, for sustaining the mem- 
bers of that party in the hist Legishiture of this State in tlie 
commission of the following enormous outrages upon pub- 
lic and private rights: 

" 1. Creating a revohition in the first step towards the 
orn:aiiization of the Senate, and violating the constitution 
and the law by attempting to supplant the legal presiding 
officer of that body with one of their own number. 

"2. I'efusing in open defiance of the constitution and in 
(Irigrant violation of their oaths to meet in joint convention 
and be present at the canvass of votes lor Governor and 
Lieutenant Governor, when counted by the Speaker of the 
House of Representatives. 

" 3. Meeting without a quoruiu and without a presiding 
officer, and expelling the Senator from Clarke county, 
thereby making a mockery of the constitution, breaking 
their oaths as Senators, and in all their councils calling to 
their aid the evil spirit of anarchy which has in every age 
involved nations in bloodshed and overthrow. 

•' 4. Voting more than one hundred times, by a strict party 
vote, against appropriating money to defray the expenses 
of the benevolent institutions of the State, thereby closing 
the doors of charity, and sending the deaf, the dumb, the 
blind, and the insane abroad in the worhl, without that pro- 
tcciinn which humanity dictates, and which Indiana gives 

to tlliill!. 

"5. Voting more than one hundred times, by a strict party 
vote, against a revenue bill and an assessment bill, thereby 
attempting to proinrate the State government; to bring her 
into dishonor at home and abroad, by failing to pay the in- 
terest on the State debt, as provided for and made obliga- 
tory by the constitution, and intlictingotherand most griev- 
ous injustice tipon her citizens. 

"6. Refusing to join and assist in the election of Senators 
in Congress, thereby setting at naught the will of the ma- 
jority of the voters of Indiana as expressed at the ballot-box, 
October 14, ISTiO. 

" 7. Attempting, as far as in their power lay, to legalize 
gross, palpable, and vv-icked frauds upon the elective fran- 
chise ; recognizing and receiving from the counties of Rush, 
Fountain, and Marion, persons as Senators conclusively 
proven in legal investigations to have been elected by ille- 



/ www 



gal. hired, and perjured voters ; stifling the voice of inquiry 
into their pretended and u-urped right to their seats as Sen- 
ators in the face of legally instituted contests in each in- 
stance. Thus alone enabling the party to which the said 
spurious and illcgallv elected Senators hclonged, to inflict 
their spirit of misrule upon the Stale; and finally sending 
forth to the world a forgery upon the journals of the Senat<! 
l«y which to cover up their high handed villainy, and avert 
from themselves, if possible, the just indignation of all hon- 
est men." 

Here are extracts from the majority report of 
the Committee on Elections on the election frauds 
in Rush county, Indiana: 

•■Mr. Speaker: The majority of the Committee on Elec- 
tions, to whom was referred the matter of the contested 
election of Rush county, in which Samuel McBridc is a 
contestant, and Leonidas Sexton contestee, would report 
to the House of Representatives that they have endeavored 
to institute a careful and thorough e.\aniiiiation into the 
frauds alleged to have been committed in the petition sub- 
mitted to them by the contestant. They have in their pus- 
session depositions taken in relation to the matter by both 
parties, copies of which are herewith submitted, together 
with the evidence given by the witnesses who have testi- 
fied before the coniinittce. Being clothed with the usual 
powers ' to send for persons and papers,' they proceeded 
to summon those persons whom they had reason to believe 
were cognizant of the facts bearing on the case. From the 
nature of the case, the witnesses were, of course, chiefly 
members of that party alleged to have committed the frauds. 
" In the discharge of their duty the committee desired 
to hasten the examination of witnesses, with a view to be 
able to make an early report to the legislature. The only 
material facts elicited will be found to be embraced in the 
testimony of the first witnesses stimmontd. The formation 
i-if a combination to carry the elections of Rush county by 
liaud, is by these witnesses clearly proved, and the e.xist- 
(Uiee of the organization established. 

" By the evidence of Messrs. Ray, Spriggs,and Williams, 
examined early, certain [n-omincnt members of the Repub- 
lican party being clearly implicated, a summons was issued 
for them, but no eflbrts were successful to bring them before 
the committee. The writ of subpena was utterly disre- 
garded, and even an attachment, duly issued by the Speaker 
of the House for contempt in failing to appear, had no better 
effect. One gentleman so much feared to make disclosures 
within his knowledge, that, when in custody of the §er- 
geant-at-Arms, he broke his parol of honor, and fled to 
Iventueky. Others left their homes, visiting other distant 
States. Your committee believe, and here confidently as- 
sert, that if the actors in these frauds could have been com- 
pelled to come forward and testify, a conspiracy of a char 
acter heretofore unknown for its e.xtent and character, would 
have been laid bare. Enough has been developed by tli<! 
evidence herewith submitted, to implicate men considered 
heretofore of the liigbesi respectability, and pnnnincnt mem- 
bers of the Republican party of Wayne and the adjoining 
counties, in devising and carrjing out plans calculated to 
pollute the ballot-box, and render the election of membnrs 1 
of the Legislature a matter to be controlled by money. Not ! 
the least important result of these investigations is the es- j 
tahlishment of the fact, that this fraudulent arrangement 
extended far beyond Rush county. From the evidence, | 
your committee have no doubt that the same foul and cor- \ 
iupt means succeeded in several other counties, but partic- 
ularly in the county of Marion. Although, in the investiga- 
tions, questions were conlineri to fraud in the county of Rush, 
vet witnesses inadvertently disclosed these facts, and Mr. 
Williams particularly testilies, that in sending young men 
abroad, he sent them iiidi;:orinii:iately to Marion or Rush. 
The crmteniplation of the development made is painful, 
viewed either in relation to its extent, or the former char- 
acter of those who have taken so active a part in its consum- 
mation. 

" We find at least one member of the State Senate, judges, 
and other functionaries not only giving encouragement and 
countenance to the project, hut taking the lead, and active 
among them was the biotherof the contestee himself. Judge 
I'erry clearly testifies, in his account of tin: meeting held in 
Itichmond, early during the canvass, that these heartily ap- 
proved the plan proposed, and other witnesses prove how 
well they carried it into faithful execution. 

" The testimony shows that the avowed object was to 
procure ycmng men without families, cili/.cns and voters in 
those counties having (as was the case with ^Vayne and 
Henry) large Republican majorities, and induce them to nii- 
gratnj a short time before the October election, into Ru^h 
c.:;ar.*.y, to vote z: tlial election, and having ik'ne ;o. ilieir 



object in going thither was accomplished, and they mfgh? 
return as soon thereafter as they should choose tctheir place 
of residence. 

" The evidence conclusively pcirsts to John C. Hudelsot?- 
clerk of H'enry circuit court, as treasnrer and prMicipaJ con- 
tractor to furnish 'outside' Toters for Rush cor>nty. It );• 
in evidence that lie deposited with Watkin Williams, of 
Wayne county, fifty dollars for that express purpose— that 
he sent by a son of Solomon Meredith,. *.350 to E. D. Sprigg, 
of Wayne county, for a like purpose. Mr. Hudelson left the 
State, and has been sojournirvg in 6on>e of the eastern cities 
up to the present time. This makes the handsome sum of 
^400 furnished to persons in two townshifjs only, while it 
is clearly proved that the same arrangement extended to 
other townships in the same county. 

"This was not, cither, the county of Mr. Hudelson's resi- 
dence; he lives in the county of Henry, which gives some fif- 
teen hundred Republican majority. Many of the wirnesscs 
from both counties say that they had plenty of votes w spare; 
and if Mr. Hudelson was willing to invest that sam of money 
in two townships, what amount did he likely expend in the 
remaining townships of Wayne and Henry? His friend, 
neighbor, and co laborer, Erijah Holland, was nf/t only sub- 
pen led, but afterwards attached, and when brcniglit to the- 
city, ingloriously fled, when under Jiis parol of honnrto the 
Sergeant at Anns. 

"A. F. Woodcock, the depot-master, Rnd agent at Riish- 
ville for the reception and distribution of foreign Republican 
votes, has not only fiiiled to obey the subpena to appear 
before this committee, but it is in evidence that he likewise 
failed, in liis own county, to appear before a justice of the 
peace, to testify in this same case. Mr. Hackleman swears 
that he asked him if he could he comp<!llcd to attend, aiuJ 
he gave his opinion that he eould not. 

" Mr.Joel Smith, the Republican candidate for treasurer 
in Rush county, was duly subpenaed to appear before this 
committee. It appear.= , by the testimony of Mr. Hackle- 
man, that Mr. Smil h was in his office, at Rnshville, on Tues- 
day of last week, and that he had a conversation with him 
on the subject of the power of this committee to attach, and 
he gave him a like opinion. Mr. Smith has, to this time, 
failed to appear. Mr. Smith was regarded as a most import- 
ant witness in this case. So the committee might go on 
and enumerate many other persons acting with the same 
disregard to the summons issued by tliis committee. It is 
unnecessary to say that this conduct is alike (Jitircspcctuil 
to this committee' and the House, tinder whose authority 
they have acted. It taints the case and the actors in it wiJii 
suspicion, and gives the whole an odor of fraud, which 
deserves the unqualified condemnation and rebuke of the 
House of Representatives." 

Eciilence of E. D. Sprigs- 
"E. 0. Sprigg, being duly sworn on oath, saj-s : I live in 
Cambridge Citj', Wayne county, Indiana. It was about the . 
lastof Septembi!ror the first of October that I was informed 
that there would be some money left with me for the pur- 
pose of being paid ont to young men who would go to Rush 
county lo vote at the Slate election. This information was 
given mc (I think) by Solomon Meredith and I>r. i.cnmel 
Johnson. In a short time S3aO was handed lo me by Mr, 
Samuel Meredith, a son of Solomon Meredith, v.-ho resides 
with his lather in Cambridge City. He told me that he re- 
eived the money in Kiiightstown, and was directed to hand 
it to me. He said Mr. John C. Hudelson gave it to him, that 
he did not know the amount or for what purpose it was 
sent. 1 afterwards saw Mr. Hudelson, who is clerk of 
Henry counly, who called on me and said he wanted part 
(rf the money. I f?aid him then .'$150. In the couversation 
alluded to with Messrs. Meredith and Johnson, they told me 
that the Democrats were engaged in importing votes into 
Rush county, and that we had to meet it on the same 
ground. 

'■ A number of young men came to me and reported that 
they were going to take up their residence in Rush county. 
To each one who thus called on me I paid ,>o. I paid this 
sum to as many as nineteen young men, and exiiected tlieiii 
to go into Rush county to vote. I remember the names of 
lirothcrs, Widdeman, Levi Williams, Justice, and Marion 
Tyncr. The balance were ail strangers to iiie. I did not eee 
any of them in Rush, nor do I know that any of them went 
there. They had all resided in Wayne county previous to the 
time I gave them the money. 1 have talked with many 
persons in relation to the political campaign in Indiana and 
Rush county, but I do not tliink I ever spoke to a Rush 
county man about it until yesterday. 1 have talked several 
limes Willi Sol. Meredith in relation to this matter: he al- 
ways said there was an cfl'ort making to run Irish voters 
into Rush, and in order to coimteracttliat, wo hr.d bettor 
run some young nicii lUerc lo gaiii^Htdaiiie and become 




voters. If t>iis arrangement extended over the country, I 
am not posted about it. On tlic day of the Ue publican 
Mieeting at Camhiidj^e, there were three or lour yoiinc men 
caiHe to mc, introduced by a gentleman fioni the norlliern 
part ol" the county. The blank cards alluded to were given 
vo ine by Aliner D. Bond ; tliey had on them (I think) the 
name of Woodcock, wlio, I was told, lived in Ku:9liville. 
I drew the i/il'erence tliat the cards were to be given to the 
youns men wIk> would give tliein to Woodcock. I used 
jiineteen of them and destroyed the balance. The general 
arraiijemcnt and understanding among us all was, that 
Woodcock would lind them employment. J..ewis Burke 
and I did not operate together at all. I do not know that I 
overheard him talk on the siiliject. At Kieliniond, 1 had a 
conversation 011 politics, in which Meredith, Dormer, Hiid- 
clson and two or three strangers were present. Burke may 
have liecB with tlieni. We were togetlier not more than ten 
or fifteen minutes ; it was not a regular meeting ; we talked 
of the campaign generally; the election and the prospects. 
Neither Ur. i*e.\lon nor Mr. Yaryan were present. 

•' As regards the money, Mr. Hiidelson once asked me if 
! had received such a package, but he never told inc that he 
liad sent it to mc by Mr. Meredith. The balance I expressed 
to Mr. Uudclson since the election. I am a Republican de- 
cidedly. Those young men lo wl'.om I gave money — with 
whom I was acqaainted— were Kepiiblicans; nor would I 
have sent any young maji if I bad believed he was a Dem- 
ocrat. I usually told these young men what to do with their 
<-ards ; if they could gel v»ork to do so, and take up their res- 
idence there, and it was my opinion tiiat in doing.so they be- 
came legal voters of Rush county. I always asked these 
young uien as few questions as possible. I gave out these 
cards from three weeks up to four or five days before the 
State election. 

" Ilmveseen four nf these young men since the election. 
IViddeiiian iives in Cambridge. Brothers told me lie was 
jjoing lo settle in Rush, hut in a week or so he returned to 
Wayne. I did not see Williams for two or three weeks 
after the election. I am secretary of the Republican club of 
(Janibridge city. fltr. Meredith is president. At one time 
f paid A. W. Kay twenty dollars, which he afterwards re- 
turned tome, i cannot tell how many limes Mr. Ray went 
out on this business, hut I paid buggy hire for two Irips. I 
had no connection with any arrangements save my own, 
bat ! Iiad the impression that persons were going to vote 
from other townships of Wayne county; also from Henry. 
I was of the opinion that young men, going under the cir- 
cumstances and advice I gave them, into another counly, 
became thereby legal voters in that county. 

" Cross examined — Except thefiveyonngmen alluded to, 
I do not know where they resided, or what were their po- 
litical opinions, and I think I have not seen any of them 
since. ELY D. SPRIGG." 

Thus it appears that while the howling of these 
pretended apostles of liberty diverted the attention 
of tlie people of Indiana to the distant plains of 
Kansa.s, straining their vision to delect afar off 
the alleged enormities of the border ruffians of 
Missouri, these smooth hypocrites were taking 
care of popular sovereignty at home by practicing 
similar frauds upon our own soil. 

And when the Democratic party of Indiana, 
struggling to maintain the spirit as well as the 
letter of the Federal Constitution, and to give to 
the will of the people of Indiana its true represent- 
ation in the Senate of the United States, chose 
two Senators in Congress, the apostles of freedom 
planted themselves upon the frauds and the usurp- 
pation which would subvert the sovereignty of 
Indiana, and destroy the freedom of elections 
among her people, and denied the right of those 
Senators to their seats. 

These transactions, Mr. Speaker, are fresh, and 
will be kept fresh, in the memory of the people of 
Indiana, who burn with honest zeal to redress 
theirown wrongsandpunish theiroppressors;and 
whatever differences of opinion may exist or be 
fomented among them concerning the affairs of 
a distant Territory, no Kansas clamor will a sec- 
ond time draw off iheir attention and afford a cover 
under which the authors of these outrages may 
escape their just indignation. 



The Democratic party of Indiana, the only or- 
ganization which can restore the supremacy of the 
constitution and laws of that State, will remain 
nnitcd and triumpii over those who have violated 
the sanctity of the ballot-box and trampled under 
foot the sovereignty of the people, whatever may 
be the decision of the Kansas question. But it is 
by no means my purpose to evade that question. 

I have before me that famous statute, called " the 
Nebraska bill." What is its true construction, 
particularly in reference lo the manner of express- 
ing the assent of the people of that Territory to their 
constitution? 

Must that constitution be submitted to the peo- 
ple, or may it bo the work of delegates alone .^ 

What is the true intent and meaning of the act,, 
and how has it been represented to the people? 
for if their verdict in its favor was given in 185G, 
in view of a construction then placed upon it by 
its friends, no different legal construction ought 
now to prevail — except; indeed, those high, au- 
thoritative expositions proceeding from the Su- 
prciTie Court of the United Stales, which all good 
citizens are bound to respect and to obey. 

The President has placed his construction 
upon that act. He tells us in his message, that 
while the submission of the whole constitution 
to a vote of the people was admitted, it was not 
required, but that the questibn of slavery alone 
was required to be submitted; that he preferred a 
submission of the whole instrurneut,and in good 
faith endeavored, by his instructions to Governor 
Walker and all his official acts, to bring about 
that result, but that the people of Kansas, acting 
through their delegates, to whose hands they had 
committed the whole subject, chose a different way, 
and submitted the slavery question alone — as, ac- 
cording to his judgment, but not his wish, they 
had tlie right to do; that he is ready to surrender 
his will to theirs, legally expressed, and acquiesce 
in their work, but hopes in future cases, as he had 
hoped in this case, a submission of the whole con- 
stitution may be had, and for that purpose rec- 
ommends that the Minnesota law be copied into, 
future enabling acts. 

A great statesman, second in intellect to none, 
unequaled in the art of clothing his ideas with the 
appearance of logical compactness and popular 
justice — a dangerous talent, if unfairly used — 
master of all the details of. this Kansas business, 
and author of the Nebraska bill itself, has also 
placed his construction of this act before the pyb- 
lic. He holds that the submission of the entire 
constitution to a vote of the people is the only 
mode consistent with that " popular sovereignty" 
which is the vital principle of the act; that all 
others are excluded; and that a constitution not 
ratified in that manner ought to be rejected. It 
will be observed that the President does not oppose- 
a submission to the people; on the contrary, ho 
gives it his preference; he only concedes the right 
of the people to take their own way, and will not 
refuse them admission because they have not 
adopted Ids. The Senator says to the people of 
the Territory: " You must vote on your consti- 
tution; it is vain to tell me that, following in the 
footsteps of many Slates of this Union, you choose 
to make a constitution through delegxites; that is 
not popular sovereignty; I am the author of the 
Nebraska bill, and this is popular sovereignty." 

Here is an issue — an issue between .the Presi- 



dent, on the one part, and the enninent Senator 
on the other; and the controversy involves, to its 
fullest extent, the great question decided by the 
people in the election of 1856, " the right of the 
people to form and regulate their domestic insti- 
tutions in their otvn way." It is a momentous 
issue, not only on account of the great question 
involved, but of the respective positions of the 
parties, their past relations to each other and to 
that country whose fast-healing wounds seem 
p.bout to bleed again — that country so long dis- 
tracted, and so much in want of repose. 

The position, associations, and past aei-vices 
of the author of the Nebraska bill, gave him the 
right to remonstrate against any departure from 
Us principles, if there was any; nay, it was his 
duty, above all other men, to vindicate it, if in- 
vaded, for he had been its charspion at all times 
and in eveiy place. 

With all his intellect h* will never be deemed 
to have blundered concerning the appiicalion of 
principles so fiimiliar to his mind; and if, indeed, 
jt should appear that he has abandoned the true 
and vital principle of his bill in its most trying 
hour — that he has deserted the substance for a 
most delusive shadow, and displayed a counter- 
feit presentment of popular sovereignty to that 
confiding people, w^iom none but he co?»ld have 
deceived — great will be his responsibility, and 
snen viable the place which history will assign him. 
Time will determine this, not the first wild clamor 
of misjudginij friends, nor the 5r3l indignant griev- 
ings of friends that were. 

There are doubtless those in tins House, and 
out of it, to whom, at first view, the doctrines of 
that distinguished Senator, on this question, have 
appeared conclusive, who have ever been faithful 
to the principles of the Nebraska bill. With such 
J would reason, and to their reasonings I'would 
lend an attentive ear; they have the right to resist 
utl encroachment, if there is any, on the princij)le 
of self-government, for they are its friends. 

But what shall 1 say of the new cnnverls to the 
doctrine of popular sovereignty; the new cham- 
))ions of the faith; the new advocates for the 
]>febraska bill — they who have hitherto been its 
enemies; wlio have reviled it and its author, and 
invoked tlie curses of Heaven upon both ! They 
also have placed their construction upon this 
statute; they think the great doctrine of popular 
sovereignty is clearly violated, and that the con- 
stitution of Kansas ought clearly to have been 
submitted to a vote of the peo|)le. The result for 
v/hich they have worked night and day, in the 
Territory and out of the Territory, has come to 
pass. Kansas is here knocking at our doors, 
withasla<ie constitution, because having, as they 
say, a majority in the Territory; organized rebels 
have refused to vote ! Men who could expend 
thousands, and travel many a weary mile to fill 
Kansas with rifles, and stir up civil war, could 
not walk across the street to vole ! Here Jet me, 
in passing, allude to one matter — the pretense that 
several counties were disfranchised and could not 
vote. The fact is emphatically denied. But, if 
it were so, how did those do who were allowed 
an opportunity.' Did any considerable number 
of them vote ? Alas for the new revelation of pop- 
ular sovereignty, and the new prophets of the faith ! 
Heaven defend the Nebraska bill from its new 
friends, and its author from their alliance ! 



And now, in moving forward to a solution of 
the question we have before us concerning the true 
construction of the Nebraska bill, let us note thi& 
landmark. I point out t?;i3 great fact which meet.? 
us nt the l>eginning — I point it out to thoae who- 
hesitate, to the members of this House,' and to 
that generous constituency to whom I am respons- 
ible for my vote in this body — I mean that the- 
great '■'army of freedom, "^ composed of renegade 
Democrats, Abolitionists, Maine-law fanatics- 
Free-Soilers, pohtictiJ preachers, and strong- 
minded women, is marching under its flag of six- 
teen stars in solid column, after this new revela- 
tion of popular sovereignty I I rr>u3t decline to 
follow that flag, and to march in that army, every 
though false prophets shall arise, who, if it were 
possible, wouSd deceive the very elect!. 

I sLalJ now proceed to give my constructioD 
of the Nebraska bill, which will fully justify thf 
vote I expect to give upon the Lecorapton con- 
stitution. No one is reaponsibJc but myself. If 
hold myself responsible to my eonstitncnts. in 
doing so, I shaJr have r/ccasion to refer to the re- 
eordcd speeches and reports of the author of thaS 
bill; because thoy lie directly iw the Vivte of my ar- 
gument. I disclaim any purpose to fasten incon- 
sistency upon that distinguisliesl' man — the incon- 
sistency of individuals is a matter of no import- 
ance to the country; but I shall quote from hiffi 
as authority upon this question — authority thai 
v/il! be received. Incidensally, i shall show that 
he is inconsistent; but it is impossible to discuss 
this question without doing so. 

It will also be proper to quote from him because 
it will show that the President, though out of 
the country, might have drav/n hia impressions 
of the " true intent and meaning of the Nebraska 
bill" from a very high source — no less a source 
than the author of the measure himself; and that 
if there is any desertion of principle it is not with 
those who are now following the doctrines of the 
Senator to their logical results. 

Section fourteen of the Nebrask?? bill contains 
tlie celebrated clause repealing the Missouri com- 
promise and instituting squatter sovereignty, 
which I have often defended, and which I stood 
manfully by until it was disposed of by a decis- 
ion of the Supreme Court of the United States, 
Then, and not till then, did I surrender it. Thai: 
decision has been indorsed by the party with 
which I act in my State, by the unanimous vote 
of the State convention. There is ai>other sec- 
tion of the bill which relates to the legislative 
power of the Territory. It says that that power 
shall extend to al! rightful subjects of kgisiation. 
Sir, I v/ould not now, after that act has received 
a construction before the people, and after their 
verdict has been rendered in favor of it at the 
polls, set up any new legal construction contrary 
to the constniction placed upon it in 185S. But 
it is a matter of law, and a matter of history, in 
my humble judgment, that those two sections re- 
ferred to the question of slavery while the Terri- 
tory remained in a territorial condition. 

Sir, it has been said repeatedly in this House 
that the great question made before the people in 
1856 was how the people of Kansas should ratify 
their constiuition. What I say, sir, will go on 
the record, and I hope it will reach the eyes of 
my constituents: I deny that proposition, and 
challenge the proof. I say that the first section 



^ 



of this bill disposes of the whole subject of State 
constitutions in <hat short clause which says that 
these Territories shall come into the Union with 
or without sla-very, as their constitution may pre- 
scribe, without saying; one word as to the manner 
in which that constitution is to be made or rati- 
fied. All this is very plain. What, then, is the 
matter in controversy? Had any man cverqucs- 
tioned the right of the people, in formins^ a consli- 
tulion, to decide the question of slavery for them- 
selves ? And especially can it be questioned with 
reference to the people of these Territories which 
came into this country under a solemn treaty, 
which is, as the Constitution of the United States 
says, the supreme law of the land? That treaty 
actually provided that the people should be pro- 
tected in their rights of property, religion, &c.; 
and one of the most distinguished statesmen that 
this country has ever produced (John Quincy 
Adams) has said emphatically, that the people 
of these Territories had an absolute right to come 
into the Union as slave States; because it is so 
nominated in the bond — because of the treaty 
under which they were acquired. I say that the 
object of the Nebraska bill, so far as the forma- 
tion of a constitution was concerned, or as to the 
mode in which it was to be ratified, was simply 
to place the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska 
on precisely the same ground as the States already 
in the Union occupied. 

It was not the intention of this bill to place it 
on any higher or any lower ground. It is not 
necessary, sir, that I should consume the time of 
the House by attempting to show that it is the 
principle in theory and in practice, in this coun- 
try, that the people may form a constitution, and 
that it may be ratified either bj^ the delegates to 
the convention , or by the vote of the people. Do 
gentlemen mean to say that it was understood 
at the time tlie Nebraska bill was introduced and 
passed, that the people of Kansas should not have 
the right to make a constitution without submit- 
ting it to the people ? There was no such idea 
broached, and I tliink I shall show conclusively 
that no such idea was ever entertained. I desire 
to call the attention of the House to some docu- 
vjaients on this subject. 

1 hold in my hand, sir, the original Nebraska 
bill, as introduced in the Senate by Mr. Dodge, 
of Iowa, and the substitute reported in lieu of it 
by Mr. Douglas of Illinois; and when we turn 
to the original draft of this section in that substi- 
stute, which was to refer the question of slavery 
to the people, it is very explicit on that subject. 
It shows distinctly three things — that, according 
to the President's doctrine, it was the slavery ques- 
tion that was the trouble; that the intent was to 
confer power on the Territory, not on the State, 
and that that was to be a representative power. 
The construction contended for now, with refer- 
ence to this law, would resolve every Territory of 
this Confederacy into an Athenian Democracy 
where all the people should collect themselves to- 
gether in one vast plain and enact their laws. That 
would destroy the idea of a representative Repub- 
lic, which was the thing in controversy in our 
revolutionary struggle. It will do very well to 
tickle the ears of ihe people by talking about pop- 
ular sovereignty. But carry out the construction 
contended for here, and the Constitutions, State 
and Federal, vanish in thin air; for nothing could 



then be done in this country unless the people were 
to assemble and vote upon it in mass. 

Most emphatically will the people of Indiana 
repudiate this doctrine. They have precedents in 
their own State which cover every phtrse of thia 
question. They have had two constitutions there. 
The first was made by their representatives, and 
ratified by them alone. The second was submit- 
ted to the people. They have knowledge within 
themselves of the power to make constitutions in 
their own way; and the man who says that the 
Congress of the United States intended to deny to 
Kansas or Nebraska the power to make their con- 
stitutions in the manner in which any old State 
made hers, is in error, and I take issue with him 
on tiiat statement, and refer the question to the 
country to determine. 

Here is the clause which I desire to read: 
" All the questions appertaining to slavery in the Terri- 
tory, and in tho new Slates to be lormod therefrom, are to 
be left to the decision of the people residing therein througii 
their appropriate representatives." 

The distinguished statesman who prepared this 
bill was evidently under the impression that the 
question of slavery could be decided by the rep- 
resentatives of the people. But here we are told 
to day that it could not be, that sovereignty ia 
inalienable, that the right to make a constitution 
could not be delegated; that, in short, this is not 
a representative Republic, but a great Democracy 
after the model of Athens. 

But, there is a further proof on this question. 
I hold in my hand Senate bill No. 172, introduced 
by the Senator from Illinois [Mr. Douglas] for 
the purpose of framing an enabling act to author- 
ize the people of Kansas to form a State constitu- 
tion, and come into the Union; and in that act, as 
originally introduced, is the following clause: 

" Sec. 3. ^ud be it further enacted, That the following 
propositions be, and the same are hereby, offered to the said 
convention of the people of Kansas, when formed, for their 
free acceptance or rejection, which, if accepted by the con- 
vention and ratified by the people at the election for the 
adoption of the constitution, shall be obli;;atory on the 
United States, and upon the said State of Kansas, to wit.'" 
[Here follow certain propositions.] 

Now that bill, as introduced by the Senator 
from Illinois, expressly recognizes that this con.- 
stitutionwas to be ratified by a vote of the people. 
But the Senator from Georgia [Mr. Toombs] of- 
fered an amendment, and that amendment was 
accepted, not only by the distinguished author of 
the Nebraska bill, but by the whole Democratic 
party in the Senate, and received the votes of tiie 
Democratic Senators, including two members of 
the Cabinet, who then had seats in tlie Senate of 
the United States. 

And what was the feature of this Toombs bill r 
Why, lo and behold! this vital principle of pop- 
ular sovereignty, this doctrine that stares us in 
the face, was struck out without a sigh, without 
a tear, and was consigned to tlietornb of the Cap- 
ulets. 

Here is a provision of the bill as modified after 
the introduction of an amendment by the Sena- 
tor from Georgia: 

"That the following propositions be, and the same are 
hereby, offered to the convention of the people of Kansas'" — 

Leaving out all that part that requires the peo- 
ple to ratify the constitution at the ballot-box — 
"for their free acceptance or rejection, which, if accepted 
by the convention, shall be obligatory on the United States 



6 



and upon tlie said State of Kansas, to ^yit:" [Here follow 
certain proj)nsition-!.] 

Well, sir, the bill as modified received the votes 
of the entire Democratic party. They recognized 
the power of making a constitution, and of bring- 
ing a State into the Union, without the necessity 
of submitting that constitution to the direct vote 
of the people. Yes, sir, and they adopted that 
provision in preference to the other proposition 
which required its submission to the people. Yet 
now we are told that nothing can have life, nothing 
can be valid unless it has been first submitted to a 
direct vole of the people at the ballot-box. 

And what further would you have on the sub- 
ject.' After that first section had been set aside 
and the other adopted in its place, after they had 
abandoned the idea of requiring the constitution 
to be submitted to the people, that same distin- 
guished Senator submitted a report to the Senate 
of the United States upon the "Toombs bill;" 
and let us see whetlier he was in favor of the con- 
stitution being submitted to the people at the 
polls, or whether he considered such submission 
as necessary. I read from his report on the 
" Toombs bill," on the 30th of June, 1S56: 

•' Tlie qui'ftion now arises, whether a constitution niadi; 
hy a political party without the authority of law, and under 
circumstances which aftbid no safeguards against fraud, 
nud no guarantees of fairness, and raises no presumptions 
that it embodies the wishes and sentiments of a majority of 
the inhabitants, shall be forced, by an act of Congress, upon 
a whole people as their fundamental law, unalterable for 
nine years. 

" In the opinion of your committee, whenever a consti- 
tution shall be formed in any Territory, preparatory to its 
admission into the Union .Tis a State, justice, the genius of 
our institutions, the whole theory of our republican system, 
imperatively demand that the voice of the people shall be 
fairly expressed, and their will embodied in that funda- 
mental law, without fraud or violence or intimidation, or 
any other improper or unlawful influence, and subject to no 
other restrictions than those imposed by the Constitution of 
the United States. 

" It is true that each party claimed, at the time the To- 
peka constitution was formed, and now claims, to have a 
large niajorily of the legal voters in Kansas, in opposition 
to the pretetjsions of the opposite party. Each party has 
always professed a willingness to test and decide this dis- 
puted point in respect to the majority, at the ballot-box, 
whenever the elective franchise can be exercised in secur- 
ity, and protected against illegal voting, fraud, and violence, 
and a fair expression of the popular voice thus obtained. 
The amendment proposed by the Senator from Georgia, [Mr. 
Toombs.] as a substitute for the original bill of the commit- 
tee, has been [)repared expressly with reference to attaining 
this desirable result." 

That was popular sovereignty, then. He was 
satisfied, then, for the constitution to be submitted 
to Congress without the vote of the people upon 
it. He was willing that the convention should do 
the whole work. He goes on to say: 

'■ The delegates are to assemble in convention at the s(!at 
of government of the Territory on the 1st day of December, 
and then to decide, first, whether it be expedient or not for 
Kansas to come into ihe Union at that time; and if deemed 
expedient, to proceed to form a constitution and State gov- 
ernment, which shall be republican in form, preparatory to 
admi.ssion into the Union on an equal footing with the ori- 
ginal States in all respects whatever." 

And again, he says: 

"The revised proposition of the Senator from Georgia re- 
fers all matters in dispute to the decision of the present pop- 
ulation, with guarantees of fairness and safeguards against 
frauds and violence, to which no reasonable man can find 
jn.-t ground of exception, while the Senator from New York, 
if his propositi(m is designed to recognize and impart vital- 
ity to the Topcka constitution, proposes to disfranchise, not 
only all the emigrants who have arrived in the Territory 
this year, but all the law-abiding men who refused to join 
in an act of qpen rebellion against the constituted author- 



ities of the Territory last year, by making the unauthorized 
and unlawful action of a political party the fundamental 
law of the whole people." 

Is it not a fair inference, looking at what I con- 
ceive to be the meaning of the author of the bill, 
and following in his footsteps — looking at the past 
history of the country — that the people of Kansas 
have the right to ratify their constitution through 
their delegates in convention, as well as in any 
other way ? Mark, you, I am not opposing a sub- 
mission to the people. I prefer that mode because, 
in the progress of our history as a nation, it has 
become more in vogue, and seems to be the more 
favorite mode with the people. The President of 
the United States, neither in his annual message 
nor in any other message, opposes this course. 
On the contrary, he frankly declares that it has 
his preference. He so declares in his instructions 
to Governor Walker; and every official act of his 
Administration relating to the subject, carries out 
the same idea. And I point to those facts to show 
that, instead of trampling upon the rights of the 
people of Kansas, he has endeavored, in good 
faith, to carry out the plan of a submission to the 
people. 

But, sir, the Kansas-Nebraska bill says, the 
principles of right and justice say, the whole prac- 
tice and theory of our Government say, that the 
people of Kansas have the right to prescribe the 
manner in which their own constitution shall be 
ratified; and if that manner does not happen to be 
the way the President had marked out, it is the 
duty of the President, as he lias done, to concede 
to them the right of acting in their own way. 

. But, sir, the distinguished author of the Kan- 
sas-Nebraska bill says to the j^eople of Kansas; 
" You must vote on this constitution. That ia 
the vital principle of the Nebraska bill. I am th-e 
author of that bill, and this is popular sover- 
eignty." 

I regret that the hour rule, which was estab- 
lished here in 1840, precludes all discussion, where 
it is necessary to refer to authorities. It takes 
too long. But, sir, I must be permitted to say 
that most of the remaining propositions to which 
I designed to call the attention of the House, are 
fully covered, and much more ably presented than 
could possibly be done by me, in the message of 
the President, which has just been read in the 
hearing of the House. 

In reference to the law under which the con- 
vention which framed the Lecompton constitu- 
tion was called, I have a few remarks to make. 
The law is almost a transcript of the " Toombs 
bill," fair in all its provisions. It is almost a tran- 
script of that great measure of pacification upon 
which the author of the Kansas bill and the entire 
Democratic party of the country stand committed. 
Sir, for the execution of that law the faith of the 
Government is ]iledged, and no man doubts that 
the people of Kansas would have carried it out in 
perfect peace and safety, if they had all partici- 
pated in the election of the convention which made 
their constitution. But, sir, they did not do so; 
and why.' A registry was to be made, and these 
people, acting in pursuance of a plan of organiza- 
tion which commenced far back in the canvass 
of 1856, refused even to allow themselves to be 
registered. 

But nineteen counties, it is said, were disfran- 
chised. Yes, sir, and the question of fact has been 



raised upon this floor in regard to the matter. If 
gentlemen who are so industrious in searching 
the official records, to cut out a sentence here and 
iJiere, used by Governor Walker, had consulted 
the public documents upon the subject, they would 
have found an answer to that matter. 

Mr. SHERMAN, of Ohio. The gentleman re- 
fers to certain facts in regard to the disfranchise- 
ment of counties. I am now here prepared, from 
a copy of the territorial laws, to show that the 
statement to which he refers is full of errors, and 
that but one of the allegations contained in that 
statement is true. I have the book now with me; 
and if -the gentleman will permit mo, in two min- 
utes I will point out to him twelve errors con- 
tained in eleven lines. 

Mr. HUGHES. I will do it upon one condi- 
tion. Will the gentleman from Ohio answer me 
a question? The Supreme Court of the United 
States having decided, as he understands, and 
as the country understands, as you and 1, Mr. 
Speaker, understand, that the Constitution car- 
ries slavery into the Territories, is the gentleman, 
in good faith , willing to abide by that decision and 
carry it out .' 

Mr. SHERMAN, of Ohio. I will not answer 
any question which is not pertinent to this ques- 
tion; but as the gentleman refers to circumstances 
involving a question of veracity, I am prepared 
to show, by a document which the gentleman ac- 
knowledges as the law of Kansas, that the state- 
ment upon which he relies, and upon which gen- 
tlemen upon the other side have impugned the 
integrity and veracity of Governor Walker, is un- 
true. 

Mr. HUGHES. The gentleman stands in the 
most favorable position — the position of a law- 
yer, who makes a statement which he knows can- 
not be admitted in evidence, for the purpose of 
having an effect upon the minds of the jury. Hav- 
ing had the benefit of his offer, I leave him there. 
I can excuse him from answering my question, 
because he has ah'eady answered it. 1 find in the 
Appendi.K of the Congressional Globe, third ses- 
sion, Thirty-Fourth Congress, page 108, the fol- 
lowing: 

" Mr. English. I ask the gentleman fmtlier, if the Su- 
preme Court of the United States should decide that tiie 
Constitution does carry slavery into the Territories, will he 
acqiiiciice in that decision ? 

'•Mr. Sherman. I answer, yes." 

Mr. SHERMAN, of Ohio. I will respond if 
the gentleman desires, bat I will not interfere un- 
less the gentleman consents. 

xMr. HUGHES. That gentleman declined to 
yield me the floor the other day to put a question. 
1 yield to gentlemen who yield to me, and I may 
say that there has been no over-courtesy extended 
to me in this House, up to this time. 

1 say that Governor Walker and Secretary Stan- 
ton have said in their official statements that the 
population of those nineteen counties was very 
sparse, and that the execution of the registry law 
was prevented, to a great extent, by the local 
agents and the people. But, nevertheless, the pop- 
ulation was sparse. If the gentleman's proposed 
correction was upon the point that those counties 
were attached to other counties, I admit that they 
were attached for legislative purposes, and not for 
convention purposes. Sir, nine thousand voters 
were registerca, but only two thousand voted. 



Where were the other seven thousand.' Were 
they disfranchiaed ? They were doing precisely 
what their compeers did on the day of the elec- 
tion on the 2Ist of December — they were carrying 
out that unlawful conspiracy by which they bound 
themselves by an awful oath, under military or- 
ganization, to resist the laws and the Constitution 
of the United States, and to set up, in defiance of 
them, a government of their own. 

Gentlemen talk about troubles in Kansas. I 
could, iflime allowed, go back and trace the whole 
of this Sharpe's rifle matter from beginning to end, 
and show that to this day they are enrolled in 
brigades and companies, with their ofticers, col- 
onels and generals, and required to be dealt with 
accordingly. I say that no man ought to be 
treated with by the Government, while he retains 
the attitude of rebellion, and I say that the Pres- 
ident of the United States has, in his message, 
struck the key-note of this whole matter, and it 
will find an enthusiastic response in the hearts of 
the people. It is rebellion, rebellion alone that 
has caused all these difficulties. 

Talk about freedom and free constitutions! You 
say you are opposed to the extension of slavery. 
If we could agree upon the meaning of the terms, 
I could possibly agree with gentlemen. What is 
slavery, and what is freedom ? It has been said 
that " he is a freeman whom the truth makes free, 
and all beside are slaves." Now, there is the 
slavery of the bondman, and of the black man, 
but that is nothing to the slavery of the soul, 
which bows in absolute subjection man's nobler 
powers; and I say of the blackest negro beneath 
a southern sun, that, though his body may be en- 
slaved, his mind may be free; and that, while he 
toils under the lash of the overseer, if endowed 
with capacity, his mind may converse with the' 
sublimest truths of science and philosophy. 

I say that an individual who is bound by such 
an oath as that to which I have referred, is bound 
by that which destroys the individual, and sub- 
jects him to a slavery that conquers tlie soul. I 
would say to those men who howl about Alrican 
slavery, before you go to the South to strike off 
the fetters of the slave, uncoil from around your 
own hearts the cankering chains which your own 
folly and fanaticism have riveted there. 

You talk about devotion to freedom. I say you 
may show your devotion to freedom much better 
by maintaining free institutions already estab- 
lished, than by clamoring about those yet unborii. 
I could review the history of the recent canvass 
of a party which filled the country v.'iih appeals 
against their own government, a party that main- 
tained that because a small State had two Sena- 
tors, and a large State had only two, therefore 
the Constitution of the United States was wrong; 
a party that made war upon the free Constitution 
which spreads its ample folds over thirty millions 
of white people, and bestowed all its affections 
upon a miserable instrument of rebellion designed, 
as they pretended, to protect the people of a single 
Territory.' 

I was going on to show the position which those 
people occupied. Governor Walker, in his offi- 
cial report, says; 

" The dillicultios in tliis Territory are not yet adjusted, 
and, without the suljmission of the coustitutiiin to the peo- 
ple, a peacelul settlement is entirely impractic.ihle. Ttiera 
is slill a coiisiik'rahic paiiy in fv:ui>as vvlio will resist the 
adoption o' the coii^litulion, Iw.i-eccr framaf, upoii the 



8 



ground so long occupied by them, that the Territorial Lc- 
g1»l:iture which called this convention was elected by voIsts 
of another State, (as they allege,) and not by the people of 
Kansas." 

That Was the ground they occupied before the 
convention met and before the dclcgfttes to it were 
elected. These men were pledged then not to rec- 
ognize anything the convention might do, and to 
refuse to adopt the constitution it might frame, 
on the ground that tliey would not recognize the 
territorial government of Kansas. Well , sir, they 
were warned by Governor Walker upon that sub- 
ject, and I commend these sentences of his to the 
attention of gentlemen with whom he has become 
a great and shining light: 

•■ The people of Kansas, then, are invited by the highest 
KUlhority known to the Constitution, to participate freely 
Rnd fairly in tht; election of delegates to Irame a constitu- 
tion and'State government. The law lias performed its en- 
tire appropriate function when it extends to the pi;ople the 
right of sutfrage : hut it cannot compel the performance of 
tliat duty. Througliout our whole Union, however, and 
wherever free government prevails, those who abstain from 
Uie exercise of the right of suffrage authorize those who do 
vote to act for them in that contingency, and the absentees 
we as much bound, under the law and Constitution,wliere 
there is no fraud or violence, by the act of the majority of 
tliosc who do vote, as if all had participated ii' ihe election. 
Otherwise, as voting must be voluntary, self-government 
would be impracticable, and monarchy or despotism would 
remain as the only alternative. 

■' Vou should not console yourselves, my fellow-citizens, 
with the refleclion that you may, by a subsequent vote, 
tlefent the ratification of the constitution." 

That was the flattering unction they were lay- 
ing to their souls. Why ? Because they wanted 
this very contingency to arise, that Kansas should 
be knocking at the door of Congress with a slave 
constitution, so that they might have food for 
agitation. But Mr. Walker goes on: 

'•'Although most anxious to secure to you the exercise of 
that great constitutional right, and believing that the con- 
vention is the servant, and not the master of the people, 
\iet I have no power to dictate the •proceedings of that body." 

Ah! but they say they were assured that the 
constitution should be submitted to the people. I 
lell you, sir, Mr. Walker said it was his opinion 
that it would be; and he said, too, that if it was 
not so submitted, it ought to be rejected by Con- 
gress; but he told these men that the convention 
had the absolute authority to submit the consti- 
tution to the people, which implies the authority 
to withhold it, and he warned them not to rely 




) on the privilege ol 
I them that he coul 

could not, dictate I » n^c noo noo f 

Ition. Andnowthe, ^ ®^^ ^^^ 922 6 

! had no chance to vote. Where were they when 

I the delegates to that convention were elected r 

j They say they had no chance to vote in the elec- 

I tion of the 21st of Decentiber because the full 

I constitution was not submitted. Why, sir, they 

had a chance to make the constitution; to con- 

I struct it from the preamble to the end; but they 

had fully, deliberately, and defiantly committed 

i themselves against it, and declined to have any- 

j thing whatever to do with the proceeding. And 

I now they come here claiming to be the people of 

. Kansas. But we had an illustration yesterday of 

I what these men are driving at. They want the 

j Topeka constitution. They have sent resolutions 

I here recommending the Topeka constitution; and 

v/hat do they ask.' Do they propose that that 

constitution shall be submitted to the people.' 

By no means; not at all. 

I omitted, in my argument, some minutes ago, 
to show that Mr. SiiWARU, of New York, offered 
an amendment to the Tootubs bill, which pro- 
posed that Kansas should come into the Union 
after certain propositions had been accepted by 
the Legislature. That amendment, I believe, re- 
ceived the vote of the whole Republican party in 
the Senate. It is as follows: 

" ^nd be it furtfier enacted, That tlii! following propositions 
be, and the sante are liereby, ofl'ered to liie State of Kansas 
for the free acceptance or rejecrion by the Legislature of 
said State, which, if accepted by the same, shall be obliga- 
tory on the United States and upon the ritateof Kansas, to 
wit. " 

From this it appears that the Republican party 
recognize the power of a LeghUiture to make terms 
for admission into the Union. This is going be- 
yond even a convention, and falls far short of a 
vote of the people. Here is one of tlie resolutions 
of the Legislature of Kansas, presented here yes- 
terday, which no more requires a vote of the peo- 
ple on their constitution than the Cincinnati plat- 
form: 

'' Resolved, That the people of Kansas Territory claim 
the right, through a legal and fair cx|iression ot the'will of 
a majority of her citizens, to form and adopt a constitution 
for themselves." 

[Here the hammer fell.] 



Printed at the Conercssional Globe Office. 



LIBF 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



111 Hill Hill nil 111' 111"""" 



016 088 922 6 



